Not Again
by theraft
Summary: Skate, AU, first attempt. K&S are friends who have some trouble getting it together. Posting here 'cause usual site is down.
1. Chapter 1

Not Again - 1

Kate first met Sawyer when he'd sauntered into the diner where she worked, boasting a terrible hangover and seeking coffee. He'd flirted mercilessly at first, and stared after her with lust in his gaze, his interest evident. As their conversations grew in length and numbers, that sexually-charged look was soon replaced by something more like curiosity. Sawyer liked chatting with that mysterious, pretty girl behind the counter, he knew that first day that he would have to make it part of his routine.

He started coming in every day for his coffee, or for a drink before hitting the bar. Kate would sometimes let him stay after the diner closed. They'd talk as she finished up her shift, and he'd sometimes drive her home.

Before long, Kate's live-in boyfriend had seen them talking a few times, and he grew suspicious. Kate found this absolutely ridiculous, because she didn't have many friends. If she wasn't at work, she was generally at home, and he knew that. But it was in Jack's nature to be jealous, just as it was hers to want her independence. Jack had seen Kate in Sawyer's car one evening, laughing as he finished telling her a story. This had led to an ugly fight, and their inevitable breakup the next night. Kate had stormed out of the apartment, brushing her tears away angrily, only to realize she had nowhere to go.

She weighed her options for a moment. She could check in to a hotel, but she wanted someone to distract her from the anger and disappointment she felt after wasting the better part of a year with Jack. So she took a chance, and walked to the bar Sawyer sometimes mentioned, just down the road from the diner.

She smiled to herself as she spotted him, slumped over a table in the back, straining to read in the dim light of the bar. "You'll ruin your eyes," She said as she approached him. He looked up, startled. "Well hey, Freckles, what you doing here?" He grinned and motioned for her to sit. "Who reads in a bar, anyway?" She laughed, dodging his question. "Diner's closed," He said, staring at her intently. "Had a fight with Doctor Dipshit?"

Kate sighed and looked away from him. "We broke up," She said quietly. He echoed her sigh, and leaned back in his chair. "Guessin' you need a drink then?" He offered. She smiled. "No, I'd better not. I have to figure out where I'm going to live, tomorrow." She made a face. "But I was wondering if..." She trailed off, and averted her eyes. "Sure thing," He replied immediately, knowing what she didn't want to ask. "Well, what do you say we get the hell out of here?" She nodded, giving him a grateful smile.

They walked in silence to Sawyer's car, but he stopped short before unlocking it. "You know, Princess, I've had a fair bit of whisky," he confessed, looking at her sideways. "If you wouldn't mind ..." He gestured towards the road, feeling the need to explain himself. "Streets are usually empty by the time I get outta there, and if it's just me I don't care, but with you in the car, Freckles..." He shrugged and held out the keys. She smiled at his concern. "Of course," she agreed, taking them, unable to ignore the slight shiver she felt when their fingers touched.

She felt a strange thrill getting behind the wheel of his car, as he climbed in next to her. Kate could smell stale cigarette smoke, and that scent that she felt was distinctly Sawyer. He was a little drunk, she noticed, as she watched him fumbling with his pack of smokes. After a few seconds spent trying her best not to laugh, she managed a sentence.

"Are you going to tell me where to drive, or should I just guess?" Sawyer turned to glare at her, but his face relaxed as he noticed her amused expression. He directed her to his apartment, located in a surprisingly nice part of town.

Kate watched Sawyer unlock his apartment with some difficulty, and she was not sure what to expect when she stepped inside. She was shocked to see a cat on the other side of the door.

"You... don't seem like a cat person," She finally said, after staring at the animal for a minute. He sighed, once again offering her an explanation. "I'm not. My aunt died a couple of months back, she had this cat. My uncle was going to toss it out, but she loved the damn thing so much that it didn't seem right. So I ended up with the critter. Meant to find a home for the beast, but I guess I got used to it." He picked up the cat and it struggled out of his arms. He raised his eyebrows. "We get along, as long as I feed it and leave it alone. Come on in." He walked into the apartment and started turning lights on.

"Bed's in here, for when the time comes, lettin' you know 'cause I've been drinkin' which usually means I'll pass out watchin' the idiot box. Just did my laundry today so no need to worry about no stained sheets." He smirked as she rolled her eyes. He turned to leave the room. "Hey," Kate said softly, grabbing his arm. He turned to face her. "Thank you, Sawyer." He looked down at her, swallowing hard. "It's nothing."

They stood staring at each other for a minute, until Sawyer shook his head and started out of the room again. "Want to watch some tv?" He called over his shoulder.

She followed him to the couch, where they complained about late-night programming for all of five minutes before Kate looked over to see that Sawyer had passed out.

A few minutes later, Kate turned off the television and stood contemplating Sawyer's sleeping face. He looked much younger when he wasn't wearing his usual harsh expression. Kate thought about taking off his boots, but didn't want to wake him. She settled for turning out the lights and curling up in Sawyer's bed. She buried her face in his pillow, smiling.

Kate's failed relationship with Jack was the farthest thing from her mind as the scent of Sawyer and his clean laundry carried her off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Not Again - 2

Kate woke to Sawyer's voice. It took a moment for her to register that he was speaking to the cat. "Okay, yes, kibbles, I get it. You know, you keep wakin' me up like that and one day you're gonna come home to find all your kitty stuff outside in a box. "

Kate smiled and got up, watching him from the bedroom door. Sawyer noticed her and nodded. "Hey, Freckles, want some coffee? Gonna make some, just as soon as I feed Mr. Demando here."

Kate made her way into the room. "Sure. I thought the cat was female, though." Sawyer looked down at the thing, now devouring its breakfast. "Well now, I'm not sure. Never checked."

"Does it even have a name?" she asked, kneeling to pet it. "You can't have a pet without naming it."

"Used to be called Fluffy or some damn shit. Now it gets called Rabies."

Kate laughed, shocked. "You can't call it Rabies!"

Sawyer shrugged. "It lives in my damn space so I can name it whatever I please," He defended. "Besides, you shoulda seen that thing when it first came to live here. Hissin' and carryin' on all the time, tryin' to kill me in my sleep. Hope you don't pull something similar, Freckles." He teased. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need, but if you wake me up screamin' for breakfast, you're out."

Kate just smiled, trying to ignore the little flutter she felt in her stomach at the idea of staying with Sawyer indefinitely. They drank their coffee in a peaceful silence, still waking up.

Once Kate was sure Jack had left for work, Sawyer drove them over to her old apartment to get some of her things. "Want me to come with?" He asked, already unbuckling his seatbelt.

Kate shook her head. "That's okay, he's not there. I'm just going to grab a bag of clothes. I guess I'll have to face him at some point." She grimaced.

"Well, take your time." Sawyer leaned his seat back and closed his eyes as if to take a nap. She laughed and got out of the car.

Kate got her things quickly. Being in the apartment renewed her regrets, and before she knew it, she was crying a little. When she got back to the car, she was still sniffling. Sawyer didn't say anything, but pulled her into a sideways hug. She held on to his arm for a minute, grateful.

Kate didn't do much apartment hunting that day, as Sawyer had other ideas. They went out for lunch, and wandered the streets for a while, just talking. Sawyer looked disappointed when Kate said they should go back. She wanted to blow off work, but couldn't really risk getting fired now that she was going to be renting a place on her own.

Throughout her shift at the diner, Kate found herself wondering what Sawyer was doing. She half hoped he would come see her like he usually did, but that was silly, now that she was staying with him and occupying most of his time. Sawyer, meanwhile, was having a similar debate. He found himself bored in his apartment, now that she was gone. He settled for picking her up.

Sawyer suggested the bar, but Kate was tired after a day on her feet. They decided on a few beers at home with the tv. Again, it was late, and nothing interesting was on.

Sawyer turned to a porn channel. "That's more like it," he drawled, studying the screen. Kate stared at him. "Sawyer, I am not watching this with you!"

He tucked the remote behind him, smirking. "Come and get it," he challenged. He looked back at the screen. "Holy shit," he ventured, impressed. "Can you do that?"

Kate glared at him and went for the remote. "I guess you'll never know."

He grabbed her by the wrists and soon wrestled her underneath him on the sofa, pinning her arms above her head with one hand. Sawyer smirked as he managed to nudge her legs apart and lowered himself down between them. "What, like you never thought about this before? Maybe when you were with the jackass?" He rocked his hips against hers, slow and teasing. "I'm pretty good, you know..." He was pleased to see that the action was having the desired effect. Her voice may have said no, but her body was responding to him, arching up against him.

"Get off," she gasped.

"That's the plan, Freckles." He grinned, his face dangerously close to hers.

Kate laughed, and Sawyer let go of her hands but continued to move against her suggestively. She could feel his arousal, matching her own. She put her palms against his chest. "Sawyer, come on. Please."

He let her up and she made her way to the bathroom, hoping her messed up hair hid her red face. He smiled to himself and took another swig of his beer. This was going to be fun, he thought.

Kate leaned against the door, wishing he didn't have this effect on her. Being so close to him was intoxicating. She liked the way he talked to her, enjoyed his company, and she didn't want to ruin it with sex. He'd just made it pretty clear that he wasn't opposed to the idea of a sexual relationship with her, but she was afraid he'd drop her after. No way was she risking that, she liked him too much. She sighed, fixing her hair. One thing was sure, she'd have to get off her ass and find an apartment pretty soon. Staying with Sawyer wasn't going to lead to anything good.


	3. Chapter 3

Not Again - 3... A few chapters left... Not entirely pleased with this one, but, meh. :)

Kate sighed in frustration and threw the paper down on the table. Sawyer looked up from the sofa where he was reading, petting the cat absently. "Nothing?"

Kate moved to sit next to him. "Nothing I can afford that's not too far from work," She crossed her ankles on the coffee table. Sawyer smiled, she seemed so at home in his place, after only a few days. "I'll try to find something tomorrow. I'm too annoyed to think about it right now."

Sawyer leaned over and tapped her forehead lightly with his fingertips. Kate smiled at the odd gesture, and Sawyer grinned back. "That's better," he said. "Don't worry. You'll find somethin' soon enough, Freckles. Personally I think it's a nice change to have a roommate." He glanced at the cat. "One who's not hairy and can hold up her end of a conversation." Kate laughed. "Let's do something today, get your mind off things for a while." Sawyer suggested, dropping his book on the table.

Kate sighed. "I wish I could, but I have to be at work in two hours." Sawyer nodded and looked down, hoping he didn't look disappointed.

Kate suddenly realized she didn't know what Sawyer did for work. "Hey, what do you do anyway? You always seem to be at home..." Sawyer froze and searched his brain for an appropriate answer. "Well, I'm... between things at the moment."

Kate seemed to accept the response, and changed the subject. "Looks like it's nice out... Do you want to walk me to work? If we leave now we'll have time for a coffee." Sawyer felt his mood improve considerably at the prospect of spending more time with her.

They walked in silence for a long time, but neither felt uncomfortable. Sawyer felt an overwhelming urge to take Kate's hand, but resisted, cursing himself. If he did something stupid, she'd leave, and he knew she didn't have anywhere to go.

"Hey," Kate said, glancing up at Sawyer. "I'm only working a few hours today, if you want to go to the bar tonight, I'll probably be up for it."

He was still so mysterious to Kate, and she wanted to see him in his element. Sawyer agreed. He'd been thinking. He wanted to talk to her about whatever was happening here, but for the first time with a woman, he just didn't know where to start. He'd been pretty damn forward yesterday. He had a feeling that alcohol was going to make it a lot easier on both of them.

They sat in the window at the coffee place, people watching. Kate laughed as Sawyer made up stories about the people who passed by, including, according to him, the very same couple from the porn channel the night before.

Kate's mind rushed back to yesterday's incident, how she had felt with Sawyer pressed against her... but he made her laugh again, before she could feel embarrassed about it.

She couldn't help but think about how comfortable she felt with Sawyer. With Jack, she'd always felt like she had to be careful, putting on an act. Sawyer didn't leave room for that. He was too busy making her feel happy, and something else. Safe, she realized, suddenly overcome with affection. Sawyer made her feel safe.

She had to stop thinking about him like this. They were friends, she told herself. He was just helping her out. It had been a long time since she'd had a close friend.

She kissed his cheek before she left, surprising them both. Sawyer watched her run across the street and into the diner. He sighed, getting up slowly. Thinking about Kate, he left his sweater in the coffee shop.

Sawyer could tell Kate was exhausted that night, and she didn't protest when he took her home.

He turned on the tv, partly as a reflex but also because he had to think out what he was going to say, again. Sawyer had been thinking about this all day. Hell, he'd been thinking it, on some level, ever since she'd first come over.

They had some connection. He hadn't really planned on dealing with it, though he had hoped maybe they'd end up friends with benefits, once she got over her break up. But whatever he was feeling, it was getting worse. There was something there. And she was hot. And it didn't look like she was leaving anytime soon.

The problem was that he only had to look at her, and he forgot whatever he was thinking. It was a wonder he could be witty around her at all. Rational thought was becoming less of an option, in her company.

He sighed, defeated, and was about to get up for a drink when Kate suddenly fell sideways against him. She was asleep, he realized. A good thing, since his heart was pounding.

He could smell her hair, watched it move under his breath. What was it about this girl, he wondered, she made him stupid. He drew in a shaky breath, and pressed a kiss to her curls.

He'd think about it in the morning. He leaned his head back and willed himself to sleep. It took an awfully long time.

When Sawyer woke up, Kate wasn't next to him. She must have gone to bed in the night. He felt a twinge of disappointment, then a sudden anger at himself.

Sawyer rose, determined. She wasn't going to have this effect on him, he decided. He just had to go talk to her. He wouldn't scare her away, just talk to her. And while he had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth, he'd do it right now, before he talked himself out of it.

"Freckles,"

Sawyer burst into the bedroom where Kate was dressing. Before she could react, his eyes widened and he dutifully turned away, hands over his face. She blushed when she heard a muffled "Damn, girl." She finished putting her clothes on, and pushed him out of the bedroom.

"Sorry," he muttered, gazing down at her appreciatively, his plan entirely forgotten. She rolled her eyes. "It's fine."

She could feel his eyes on her as she moved into the kitchen, starting to make coffee. She laughed and looked over her shoulder at him. "Stop looking at me like that,"

"Like what, Freckles?" He asked, giving her an amused look that told her he knew perfectly well.

"You know like what. Like you're about to pounce,"

He raised his eyebrows. "I might be considering it,"

Kate sighed, smiling. They could do this forever, or they could get it over with. She suddenly decided that there was no harm in seeing what it was like. She walked over to him, taking him by surprise when she kissed him. Sawyer stiffened for a split second before relaxing and pulling Kate into his arms.

Kate gasped into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Sawyer's neck as his hands roamed her back. There was no way she would be able to stop this. He tasted stale and sour - cigarettes, alcohol, and something she couldn't define. Whatever it was, she couldn't get enough of it. She pulled away to look at him. They searched each other's eyes, catching their breath.

"Shit," Kate breathed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. Sawyer grinned, moving to kiss her again as he picked her up, backing her into the bedroom.


End file.
